Nerves Part 2 Kathryn Kuhlman "A Healthy Mind"

Again, for a few minutes, you and I are going to have a little heart -to -heart talk. You know, I could never begin to tell you how great was the response to our previous talks on nerves. People from all walks of life have written in and expressed their appreciation of these broadcasts. You'll remember that we discovered that there was nothing wrong with your nerves. The trouble was elsewhere. We find that each nerve is a thread of living tissue and that these little fibers connect the brain cells with virtually everything every cell in the body. The best way that I can describe them to you is that they resemble the electric wires in your telephone or in your radio, except that they are composed of soft tissue instead of metal. And each one consists of a central core. that's surrounded by a membrane, thus resembling the wire in its insulating covering. That's the very best way that I can describe them to you. Now, some of these nerves carry impulses from the brain to the various organs and tissues, while others carry messages from these to the great central office bear in mind one thing and that is the fact that the nerves are only a means of communication they do not govern anything if we follow a nerve from its beginning perhaps at a cell in the skin we find that it ends in a brain cell. And these brain cells are definite organs that play a part in the body function. But they are not the real beginning of the trouble. Keep that in mind as we continue to discuss this thing of nerves and the relationship between our nerves and the brain. The brain has been well likened to the central office of a telephone or a telegraph system. We might go a little further and say this, that each brain cell appears to be a minute telephone apparatus through which messages are sent to different parts of the body or through which calls are received from portions of the body, different parts of the body. The stomach. or the liver, or from your fingers, or from your toes. So far, we're dealing nearly with a mechanism that we're using all the time, constantly. But it is purely a mechanism. And we should so recognize it as thus. Now, in all these so -called nervous conditions, the machinery is found to be perfect. So the trouble must be back of that. And here we come to that unseen worker within, the mind, which presides over the central office and uses this wonderful mechanism to control the body. We must realize that any of these so -called nervous conditions, from the simplest case of phygis to the most pronounced hysteria, is caused by some state of mind that is interfering with the orderly control of the affairs of the body. If we understand this point, we shall at once see how to deal with these conditions, and you cannot deal with the condition until you understand the working of the mind. its effect over the body. Now, let's take, for instance, the hand. How often I have found that my hand is trembling. And how often you have looked and you have said, oh my goodness, life, my hand trembles. It must be my nerves. I must be very nervous. Something is upsetting me terribly. See how my hand shakes, how my hand trembles. Your hand trembles and you say that you're nervous. For some reason, you are not exercising a normal control over the muscles. There is a state of indecision behind all of this. And this state is in the mind. In other words, so -called nervousness is a partial loss of control in the central office. And when this becomes complete, we have the condition that we call hysteria. We all know people, some are in our own families, who become hysterical in the slightest provocation. Do you know what it is? They simply let their feelings take charge of them and give up all self -control. Nervous diseases are not nervous at all, but are varied degrees of emotional outbreaks. No condition or set of circumstances is... In itself, a calamity to be feared. Always remember that. It is our mental reaction to it that makes it a Waterloo or a Field of Triumph. It's just like that. Oh, years ago, I can tell you just about when. As I begin telling you the incident, you can figure up and you can almost tell it every year. I was in a little Baptist church in the state of New Jersey holding a two -weeks revival meeting there. It's been several years ago. I was young then. Inexperienced. Well... I was staying in the home of one of the members, a nice little old maid who was in her seven days. And I slept in her guest bedroom while I was in the Baptist church holding a meeting. And it was during the time when the late Mr. Roosevelt was running for third term. Oh, how well I remember the incident. Miss Anna, as I told you, was in her 70s, and she had a friend, a very close friend, who was probably seven or eight years older than herself. So you see, she was elderly. And that friend of hers was absolutely dead set on the fact that Mr. Roosevelt was not going to get in. As a third... term president, and she set out as one woman to campaign against Mr. Roosevelt taking office for the third term. Her husband was very wealthy, and she spent literally thousands of dollars campaigning against Mr. Roosevelt. It was just an idea that she had. Well, The night came, the election, and she was absolutely exhausted from the mental strain and the little physical effort that she had put forth, you know. And so about, oh, it must have been about 7 o 'clock in the evening, her husband said, now, you go to bed. You must get a little rest. And when the last returns come in, Why, I'll call you. And we'll get you up. You won't miss anything. And so she did. She retired to get a couple of hours of rest before what she thought was going to be a great celebration. A personal victory. Those of you who were living then know what the returns were like. Mr. Roosevelt got in for his third term. And I shall never forget the telephone rang in Miss Anna's house. I was there. It was the husband of the woman who was at that time asleep. He said, Miss Anna, come. Come quickly. Mr. Roosevelt has gotten into office and he said, it'll kill my wife. It'll kill her. When she awakens and we have to give her the message, it'll kill her. It'll be the death of her. It will go to her heart and she'll suffer a heart attack. Come quickly. And Miss Anna got her shawl and said, Catherine, I'll be back a little later. I don't know what time it'll be. It was Miss Anna who almost had the heart attack before she left the house. This is what happened. Miss Anna tiptoed into the room. with the smelling salts, and with every precaution taken that would keep the precious woman from suffering a complete collapse or having an attack of the heart when she awakened. And it was about two o 'clock in the morning. She awakened and Miss Anna was there by her side. She said, Anna, what happened? Did we win? And Miss Anna, with the smelling salts in her hand, came very near to her friend and said, I'm sorry. But Mr. Roosevelt is in for the third term. And in that moment, the portly woman, with the strength of her body, raised herself up in that bed to a sitting position with her chins up in the air and her nose a little higher than ever before and said, Anna? Anna? Just act like it never happened. And you want to know something? To her dying day, she never discussed it with anyone. She never acknowledged the fact that Mr. Roosevelt ever got in office for the third term. She just literally acted as... Though it never happened and her heart kept right on beating, it never missed a beat. Not a nerve in her body was affected. She went on living just the same. As though it had never happened. That was one of the greatest lessons that I've ever learned. I have had to learn. And there is never a week of my life, believe me, but when something happens that could upset me terribly, oh, I could go into a thousand pieces. When you deal with men and women, when you deal with the public, believe me, it's the hardest work in the world. But I have over and over again and have done exactly the same thing that the precious little woman did, have said to myself, Catherine, just act as though it never happened. Oh, sure, it doesn't change the condition, or it doesn't change circumstances, but I become master over that thing rather than to have it master me. And it's just like that. You want to know something? A healthy, wholesome mind is better than silver. It's better than gold. It's better than all the material blessings in the world. That's the truth. A normal, wholesome, undivided mind. A mind that's void of fear, anxiety, worry, pettiness. A mind that's free of jealousy, free of selfishness, free of... Envy is one's greatest possession outside of one's salvation. For as a man thinketh, so is he. Hold in mind that nothing that can happen to you, even at its worst, nothing that you fear is as bad as the fear itself. For if you keep the mind intact, if you keep the center of your life intact, then you can come back from anything. But if the mind is filled with worry and fear, jealousy, pettiness, littleness, then you're knocked down. You're defeated by happenings. whether they are real or imaginary. And what's the answer? How can I overcome this condition? Here's the answer. By fastening your attention not on the thing to be feared, not on the circumstances or the situation around you, not on individuals or personalities. But on Christ. Remember? I am his. And he will defend me. His. And he will protect me. His. And he claims me now. Against all adversaries. I am his, and none else possesses either right or power over me. I am his, and I will trust him with complete confidence today, tomorrow, and until that last day when my redemption is perfected Stand in his glorious presence. Slipping to your knees just now, look up and say, Wonderful Jesus, give me a mind that is free from fear, free from worry, free from jealousy. Give me a... healthy mind. For this is my greatest possession outside of my salvation. For Jesus' sake we ask it. Amen.